OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Seven-day access to Hurricane Ridge begins Friday.
Olympic National Park plans a noon ceremony at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and is waiving the $15 entrance fee to the ridge on that day.
Shuttle bus service — costing $10 per round trip Wednesdays through Sundays — also begins Friday to the popular snow playground 17 miles south of Port Angeles.
“We invite the public to join our partners and us in celebrating the beginning of the winter season and our new seven-day-a-week access schedule,” said Karen Gustin, park superintendent.
“The weather forecast looks promising for Friday, and we’re hoping for a good turnout of winter enthusiasts to mark the beginning of daily winter access.”
A new “Road Open” banner will be unveiled at Friday’s noon ceremony to publicize this year’s seven-day-a-week plowing schedule.
In the past, the road has been open only Friday through Sunday from late November through March.
But beginning Friday, the road will be open — weather permitting — from 9 a.m. to dusk every day expect Christmas Day.
The all-week schedule was made possible by about $75,000 raised in donations and another $250,000 in federal funds.
Port Angeles City Council member Cherie Kidd — an organizer of the effort to raise donations to keep the road open daily, a move expected to increase tourism — will be among the speakers at the noon ceremony.
Gustin also will speak, as well as a representative of Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, of the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula, and a representative of the Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club, which operates the ski facilities.
The public event is co-sponsored by the city of Port Angeles, ARAMARK and the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
After the ceremony, attendees can warm up inside the visitor center, where ARAMARK — the park concessionaire that operates the Hurricane Ridge Snack Bar and Ski Shop — will offer light refreshments, including coffee and hot chocolate.
The Hurricane Ridge Snack Bar and Ski Shop, with both ski and snowshoe rentals, will be open Friday as scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The snack bar is only open for “grab and go” Fridays. Full services are available Saturdays and Sundays.
Ranger-led snowshoe walks will be offered at 2 p.m. The walk lasts 90 minutes and is less than one mile in length.
People should register at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center information desk 30 minutes before the walk. A $5 donation is suggested.
A 12-passenger shuttle bus will leave twice a day Wednesdays through Sundays from two Port Angeles locations: the Port Angeles Visitor Center, in front of The Landing mall at 121 E. Railroad Ave.; and the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St.
All Points Charters & Tours vans will depart from the Railroad Avenue visitor center at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and will pick up passengers at the Vern Burton center at 9:05 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. before the 45-minute drive to the ridge.
Vans will leave Hurricane Ridge at about 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., though scheduling details will remain flexible during the start-up period for this new service, the park said.
The fee to enter the park via the shuttle is $5.
To make reservations for the shuttle, phone 360-565-1139 or 360-460-7131.
For information on road and weather conditions, visit www.nps.gov/olym, follow HRWinterAccess on Twitter or phone the park’s hotline at 360-565-3131.
All vehicles are required to carry chains when traveling the Hurricane Ridge Road in winter.
